Cardinals vs. Giants Post-Game Thoughts

The Good: Albert hit a HR... And there was some good hitting in the 2nd, 8th, and 9th innings. But even in the 2nd they didn't cash in potential runs; and the 8th and 9th were decent efforts, but it was too little, too late. It was also encouraging to see our new third baseman Pedro Feliz go 2 for 4.

The Bad: Base-running was not aggressive, and it resulted in the Cards losing runs. For whatever reason, maybe I missed something, Pedro Feliz (on 2nd base) was not sent home when Yadier Molina got a base hit (2nd inning). And in that same inning, when Molina reached 3rd base (after a base hit by Brendan Ryan), he was not sent home, despite a wild throw to first base. I know Molina is slow, but there is no reason that he shouldn't have scored. That is two runs that the Cards lost to bad calls. Had the Cards got those runs, it could have been a different ballgame in the 9th.   

The Ugly: Everything was ugly about this game. Teams rarely have a lot of positives going for them after losing their fifth game in a row. The Cards' offense remains in a slump. Outside of the 2nd, 8th, and 9th innings, and Jon Jay's double in the 4th, the offense was once again barely existent.

The pitching was also terrible. Westbrook gave up a HR, and 3 runs total (all of them earned). He raised his ERA to 4.48. I may be jumping the gun a bit, but I don't care... Trading Ryan Ludwick for this guy was a complete joke. Hopefully the trade for Westbrook was not suppose to be a "blockbuster" move by GM John Mozeliak to elevate the team to the playoffs; because if it was, I have to question his abilities, as well as his sanity. Alright... that's not really fair, because I liked a lot of his past moves, but I don't know what he was thinking on this one.     

Even commentator Al McLaughlin's substitute was terrible. Nothing is good when a team has an ugly loss like this, especially after losing four in a row... now five.  All I can say is this team better have one hell of a month in September if they want a realistic shot at making a run in the playoffs. But if this team can't click on offense, and has to rely on a Pujols' HR to bail them out every single time, then the playoffs might not even happen.